Friday, 12 December 2014

Gift Aid! Perfect last minute present ideas

Seriously, if one more person posts that it is X days to Christmas I will scream. As if having the chaos of five children all wanting to open Advent Calendars before the coffee has unglued my eyes is not enough - I know EXACTLY how many days it is thank you.

I thought I was quite organised but still found myself with a short list of four people I needed to buy gifts for and no ideas which were any more original than toiletry gift sets or chocolate.

If you are in the same position fear not as I have some great unusual gift ideas and even some discount codes for you!!!

Firstly - for any female who reads or needs to carry a notebook and has a handbag fetish I present the amazingly original Bagabook. The brainchild of British designers and shortlisted for no less than four "Gift of the Year" award the bagabook allows you to carry your favourite book (of the moment) or notebook in style.

Simple but clever, the cover leaves of the book slip into the inner support sleeves and a magnetic closure makes sure you can flip it open on the train and immediately find your place. It protects the cover ( many designs available) and even has a travel card pocket, pen holder and a zip-able back pocket which I reckon is big enough to get a mobile phone and a small slim purse into.

Reached your stop? Close the book and grab the bag by it's carrying handle and it looks like you just have a smart bag!

The version I tested is the Black Embossed PU bag and fits 17.5cm Lx 22cm W x6cm D depending on thickness of book. It fitted my average sized book (For Tibet With Love by Isabel Losada) with ease.

Prices are around the £18.95-£39.95 range with a variety of patterns, colours and finishes. Patent, floral, two tone and even a new kids design. Shipping is free in the UK if you spend over £18.95 and just £6 to send abroad. They do fab cases for iPads, kindles and other e-readers too!

At the moment Bagabook are running a competition to win the Bagabook of your choice - enter HERE.

New in time for Christmas and all those shopping trips, frosty walks and long car journeys we have a special edition Transformers Age of Extinction edition (£5.99 with four stickers to allow the owner to customise their bottle under the spout) and a larger version of the bottle which holds up to 1000ml.(£12.99)

Both bottles are small enough when collapsed to pop into a Christmas stocking (or your pocket!) and then expand to provide you with a good-sized drinking bottle.

I love this larger collapsabottle which has a handy carabina-style clip and a circular opening instead of the usual straw. It's very handy to be able to carry up to a whole litre of water or squash to top up the smaller 500ml bottles the children carry.

Pulling it out from squished to full sized is a bit tricky at first but we have found form experience that it doesn't take long for it to get easier. Obviously open the straw/cap before you pull - simple physics!

When we first discovered Ohyo bottles my husband was a bit dubious about how well you could clean them out but they are dishwasher safe and I tend to only put water or squash, never milk or milkshake in mine anyway.

On the packaging of each bottle you even have a link to a website and app which will help you find free drinking water. This means you can keep the bottle squashed flat in your pocket, expand for a drink, then flatten again.

Last but by no means least I discovered a website with a whole host of original gift ideas for all ages. The Museum Collection has a huge collection of historically themed gifts from jewellery, clothing and house and garden ware to rugs and prints.

I was very taken with the beautiful Sweet Pea cup and saucer (£24.99) which makes my morning cuppa after the children have gone to school feel like a real occasion.

And if you feel like treating yourself there is a beautiful Christmas shop with gorgeous and unusual period-inspired gifts, decorations and cards.

And now for some discount codes- hurry as they won't be available for long!

Go to Ohyo's site and use code XMASSTOCKING before Sunday December 14 for 15% off
For a whopping 20% off at Bagabook quote codeMM720.Disclaimer: I received free products as a thank you for including them in this post - views and opinions remain honest and my own-all recommendations are genuine.

About Me

This UK-based mad mum of 7 shares the highs and lows of life parenting, feeding, entertaining and travelling with her husband of 25 years and their larger than average family. (although three of the children have grown up & left home now!)

Strong focus on food, cooking & eating out, parenting a child with ASD (autism) and anything to do with family life.